John Doyle was born in Wilkinstown, Taghmon, County Wexford, Ireland, on the 23rd May 1879, the son of Laurence and Anne Doyle (née Hayes). His father was a carpenter and cooper, and John was the eldest of thirteen children in the family.
He was a professional seaman in the British Mercantile Marine, and by 1915, his family had moved to Liverpool, Lancashire, England, where the family home was at 368, Vauxhall Road, Liverpool, Lancashire.
In April 1915, John Doyle and one of his younger brothers, Peter, engaged as firemen in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool, at a monthly rate of pay of £6-10s.-0d. (£6.50p.), £1-0s.-0d. of which was advanced to them at the time. They reported for duty early on the morning of the 17th April; in time for the vessels last ever voyage out of the River Mersey.
Three weeks later, both John and Peter Doyle were killed when the Cunarder was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port. John Doyle was aged 35 years at this time. Neither of their bodies were recovered and identified afterwards and as a consequence, they are commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial to The Missing, at Tower Hill, London.
His brother, Peter Doyle, was aged 32 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Ireland Select Births and Baptisms 1620 – 1911, Ireland Catholic Parish Registers 1655 – 1915, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 23rd March 2023.